What’s Up Next Podcast: Episode 8
What’s Up Next?
Paul Thompson and I are proud to release of episode 8 of the The What’s Up Next Podcast. This podcast is an exploration of financial independence and taking the conversation to the next level. The show features panel discussions with top influencers in the financial independence space. Guests weigh in on questions that don’t have clear answers to refine your path to FI.
Episode 8
Are there generational differences in the path to financial independences? Today we discuss whether Millennials, Gen X’ers, and Baby Boomers approach financial freedom differently with Cody Berman, Mrs. Groovy, Grant Sabatier, and Accidental Fire. Their insights are both thought provoking and fun.
Also, listen to the very end for a short but satisfying blooper reel!
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So interesting. I had an uncle that was born in the late 1800’s and was FI in his 40’s in the 1940’s. He had a literal “cottage business” with a resort on lake Mich open in the summers and winter kicked back in Ft Lauderdale, WW1 generation. Another uncle who was a machinist that owned a bowling alley with a liquor license and a a couple of laundromats in the 50’s and 60’s and was “semi retired” by 50, depression generation. There has always been FI and FIRE. The difference today is marketing. 20’s was a Saturday evening post generation, 30’s was a news reel generation, 40’s was a radio generation, 50’s TV, 60’s Time Newsweek Rolling Stone magazine generation, etc and that media tells a narrative. Pretty much everyone on the podcast is marketing a narrative but the narrative is now egalitarian. So who’s going to control the narrative in 20 years? Google, Twitter, some other AI? Are generations different or merely a mirage created by the media narrative? I have a 20 and a 22 year old. They are not different than me but the icons they use to define their lives are different. I am not different than my uncles who were born way over 100 years ago, I created my own path as well.
I think you are right that we are all similar. Certainly the media plays a role in the name calling.
Being a GenX-er, I definitely agree with Mrs. Groovy that we are the tweeners, caught between the other two generations that dominate the narrative. Even though our generation saw the invention of the Internet for a commercial use (the first browsers Mosaic and Netscape came out when I was in college, and before then it was all text), the accepted wisdom was still Baby Boomer-ish: study hard, go to the right school, get into the right profession, and then society’s institutions will take care of you for the rest of your life.
But things changed. Eg, I remember when it was highly suspect to post too much of your life on social media (esp from a professional standpoint) and now it is highly suspect if you don’t.
So now, the more entrepreneurial GenX-ers who were likely marginalized in the past 20yrs for not conforming are now at a greater advantage in the current system. And the ones who followed the rules hopefully saved and invested so that they’ll be okay if they lose their jobs. Because if they didn’t and can’t adapt, they will have a lot of hardship ahead.
Really enjoying the podcasts- looking forward to hearing more!
Thanks for listening. I like the tweeter metaphor too.